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CNN
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North Carolina’s gubernatorial showdown is shaping up to be one of the most competitive races of the year after Democrats chose the state’s moderate and staunch Attorney General Josh Stein to face off against right-wing Republican candidate Mark Robinson. is expected. Mr. Firebrand currently serves as Lieutenant Governor.
Mr. Stein and Mr. Robinson are vying to replace term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper in what is expected to be another tough battle as Democrats try to preserve one of their last remaining footholds in the upper echelons of Southern politics. They are trying to turn the state upside down. presidential ballot.
Former President Donald Trump won the Tar Heel State in 2016 and 2020, but Biden came within just over one point of an upset. Mr. Biden’s favorability rating may have declined since then, but Republicans have lost 11 points over a party-line vote that overrode Mr. Cooper’s veto of a 12-week abortion ban passed by a Republican supermajority in Congress last year. It could face an even tougher rebound in May.
Despite Republicans having complete control of the state legislature, Cooper won his first of two terms on the same day in 2016 that Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president. He has since been barred from the governor’s office. Though exciting to MAGA supporters, Mr. Robinson has similar politics to Mr. Trump, who is a vocal supporter of gun rights and anti-abortion and prone to dabbling in anti-Semitic, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. It is cutting down on the person of interest.
“Every time they say my name, they associate my name with social issues and how I hate everyone,” Robinson told the Conservative Party Political Action Conference last month. . “They say I hate everyone. I hate people who walk and talk and walk upright. I hate people who drive cars. I hate no one.”
In June 2021, the Democratic Party voted by majority to call for his resignation after he described “transgenderism” and “homosexuality” as “filth,” which went viral several months later. Instead, Robinson doubled down.
“I’m not ashamed of the language I used,” he told Raleigh TV station WRAL that fall. “It’s time for parents in this state to take a strong stand for their children, and we will continue to take advantage of this system.”
In social media posts, Robinson downplayed the atrocities of Nazi Germany and argued that socialism is, and always should have been, a bigger concern than European fascism.
“We talk a lot about the ‘appeasement’ of Hitler. But the greatest ‘appeasement’ of all time is how we turned a blind eye to the clear and present dangers of Marxism.” ” he wrote in 2019.
Mr. Stein has deep political roots in the state. His father, Adam, was a prominent civil rights attorney who founded North Carolina’s first full-service law firm with Julius Chambers and James Ferguson.
The contest is sure to focus on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which paved the way for North Carolina Republicans to pass anti-abortion legislation. Mr. Robinson has voiced support for stricter measures, while Mr. Stein has warned that without even modest oversight in the governor’s mansion, Republicans could mount a riot.
Last year, after being endorsed by Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly known as NARAL), Stein said that “far-right politicians are seeking complete control over women’s right to decide about their bodies, families, and futures.” “Reproductive freedom is at risk in North Carolina.” Pro-choice America.
Trump formally endorsed Robinson days before the election, but the political similarities between the two run deep. President Trump congratulated his candidacy over the weekend, calling the lieutenant governor, who is Black, “Martin Luther King on steroids” and “a great natural speaker.” (Robinson defeated two other Republican candidates.)
Mr. Biden and the state’s Democratic Party have largely distanced themselves from North Carolina, in part because of Mr. Biden’s precarious position in the state. Still, the presidential and gubernatorial elections are expected to be close.
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